Lee County Library System wins two awards at the Florida Library Association annual conference

Fort Myers, FL, May 20, 2021 – The Lee County Library System has been selected as the 2021 recipient of two Florida Library Association awards:  Excellence in Marketing and Public Relations and Outstanding Business or Media Partner.

The Excellence in Marketing and Public Relations award recognizes outstanding strategic marketing, public relations projects or campaigns that show results. The award highlights the work of the Digital Services Team at Lee County Library System for a Halloween-themed video, “Tales from Beyond the Stacks.” The video reached thousands of viewers and showed off the skills and abilities of the team while promoting library services. See the video here: https://bit.ly/3w1VZP9

The Outstanding Business or Media Partner award honors a company, business partner or media agency for their leadership or significant contribution in support of library service to a local, regional or state-wide library organization. This year’s award recognizes WINK News anchor Lois Thome, who has provided 20 years of continuous support to Lee County Library System’s signature event, the Southwest Florida Reading Festival.

“Reading has always been a big part of my life, so to be honored for being part of such an important event in our community is the cherry on top of the sundae.” Thome said. “It’s rare to find a free, community event that serves all in such a positive way. I am happy to play a small part in making it the successful event it’s become.”

As a founding member of the festival’s planning committee, Thome has brought expertise and insight to the event, ensuring the best visibility through PSAs, live TV interviews, festival-day storytimes, arranging on-site author interviews and more. With Lois’s help, the festival has been able to positively impact more than 100,000 readers in the community.

“Lois is a strong advocate for libraries and reading,” Library Director Mindi Simon said. “It has been a privilege to work with her on the Southwest Florida Reading Festival. Additionally, I am so proud of our Digital Services team who creatively promote the library and all of the valuable services we provide to our community.”

About the Lee County Library System: The Lee County Library System, founded in 1964, has 13 branches with more than 1.5 million items. Currently more than 294,000 Lee County residents are registered users.